Natural Gas Production Up by 8 Per cent

A total of 230.35Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the country in July 2018, averaging a daily production of 7,678.17Million Standard Cubic Feet (mmscfd), NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations report for July 2018 has stated.

The sum represents 8.81 per cent increase compared to the previous month of June 2018.

The report indicated that for the period, July 2017 to July 2018, a total of 3,084.09BCF of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,834.62mmscfd, while the daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants stood at 744.86mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 2,898MW.

A release by NNPC Group General Manager Group Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, explained that period to date production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), contributed about 69.38 per cent, 21.69 per cent and 8.93 per cent respectively to the total national gas production

A further breakdown of the numbers showed that out of the total volume of gas supplied in July 2018, 127.19BCF of gas was commercialized, comprising of 35.55BCF and 91.65BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.

This translates to a total supply of 1,184.81mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,055.00mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month, implying that 55.98 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized, while the balance of 44.02 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

The NNPC July report said gas flare rate was 9.33 per cent, (706.96mmscfd), compared with average gas flare rate of 10.44 percent ( 816.73mmscfd) for the period July 2017 to July 2018.

In the downstream sector, the report revealed that the corporation continued to ensure increased PMS supply and distribution across the country to sustain seamless distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation.

It stated further that 2.18billion litres of white products were distributed and sold by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in July 2018 compared with 1.46billion litres in June 2018.

According to the report, the sales comprised of 1.84billion litres of petrol , 0.13billion litres of kerosene and 0.21billion litres of diesel, while total special products sold for the period was 10.70million litres, comprising of 0.87million litres of other special products and 9.83million litres of LPFO or 16 per cent, 12 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

The report disclosed that during the period under review, pipeline break stood at 204, of which 16 pipeline points either failed to be welded or ruptured/clamped.

It also indicated that 188 pipeline points were vandalized as against 165 recorded last month, with Ibadan-Mosimi accounting for 124 points or 66 per cent of the vandalized pipeline, while Aba-Enugu, PHC-Aba and other locations accounted for the rest.

A total of 1,858 vandalized points was recorded between July 2017 to July 2018.

In the Upstream Sector, the NNPC Financial and Operations Report for July 2018 disclosed that average crude oil price stood at $72.57 per barrel in July 2018 as against $72.67 per barrel in June 2018.

Industry watchers attributed the oil price decline to the slight rise in the global inventories, saying the scenario is expected to continue in the second half of 2018.

In July, the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) increased marginally by 0.07 per cent to finish the month at $73.27 per barrel compared to the previous year ORB of $68.48 per barrel in the same period, indicating a higher value of $4.7 or 7 per cent.

The July 2018 NNPC Financial and Operations report is the 36th in the series which began in 2015 on assumption of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.